Clayton Hamburg and Kristin Hammargren share a moment in Optimist Theatre's production of "As You Like It."

Two weeks ago, director Tom Reed had fully intended to make another round of cuts to Shakespeare's "As You Like It" — slimming the run time to just over two hours — before Optimist Theatre opened its production in Riverwest's Kadish Park. Am I ever glad that he had second thoughts.

When Optimist's press preview performance ended Thursday night — two hours and 45 minutes after it began — my aching body was screaming for a seat cushion and the ground on which I was sitting was wet with dew. | July 12, 2013»Read Full Article

Finding their comedic voices and fame on the sketch-comedy show "In Living Color" from 1990 to '94, Keenen Ivory, 55, went on to direct "Scary Movie" and "Scary Movie 2," while Damon, 53, took on roles in the ABC sitcom "My Wife and Kids" and Spike Lee's satire "Bamboozled." | April 16, 2014»Read Full Article(2)

Easter is a faith based holiday with pagan roots and commercial opportunities for both.

According to Wikipedia the Easter bunny is "a legendary anthropomorphic gift giving character analagous to Santa," But while Americans spent $469 billion at Christmas in 2012, they spent just $16.8 at Easter, mostly on Cadbury Creme Eggs. | April 16, 2014»Read Full Blog Post

Mike Beer (from left), head of Beer City Skateboards and Records, and Keith Brammer and Dan Kubinski, from the band Die Kreuzen, gather in an area record warehouse to show their soon-to-be-released remastered EP “Cows and Beer.” Brammer had the original “Cows and Beer” tape gathering dust on his closet shelf.

Rush Mor Records has a good reputation in town as Milwaukee's longest-running record shop.

But it's not every day that owner Dan DuChaine gets calls from Minnesota, St. Louis, Philadelphia, Germany, Greece and France. | April 16, 2014»Read Full Article

For two years, "Lost My Mind in Stereo," the sophomore album by local pop-rock group the Sleepwalkers, has been in a dormant state. Recording started in 2011, back when frontman Ian Olvera was living in Oshkosh, and wrapped up in 2012.

Since the first Record Store Day in 2008, U.S. vinyl sales have gone up each year in the U.S. In 2013, as CD sales declined by 14.5%, vinyl sales jumped 32% to 6 million units sold, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

After I first read Updike's story "You'll Never Know, Dear, How Much I Love You," before I looked at any other commentary on it, I thought immediately of "Araby," a story in James Joyce's "Dubliners." They share the same situation: a boy anticipates a fair (or bazaar) with great excitement, only to leave disappointed. Both youth arrive at the fair late: the unnamed youth in "Araby" doesn't get there until nearly 10 o'clock; Ben, the 10-year-old protagonist of Updike's story, takes note of the "empty darkening streets" as he approaches the carnival. | April 16, 2014»Read Full Blog Post